Larkin High to present black light play
Black light art was a staple in the sixties. The ultraviolet lighting technique was used to bring fluorescent colors, preferably on black velvet, to psychedelic life. Groovy!
Like grooviness, though, black light has fallen out of favor. But in the spirit of re-purposing, Larkin High School in Elgin will present "The Black Girl With the Lantern, a production presented entirely in black light.
Director Eduardo Hernendez has been interested in developing the technique for years.
"It began with a Japanese form of theater called Bunraqu," he said. "They didn't have the black light, ultraviolet light, but they controlled the lighting of the stage. They used to use puppets."
Twenty years ago Hernandez saw the technique transformed using black light in children's theater in his home country of Puerto Rico.
"It took me a year to learn the technique and I developed it in Puerto Rice using Caribbean topics," he said.
His latest black light experience is a story about diversity and friendship.
"A girl wants a friend and her father buys her a slave," Hernandez said. "It happens that the slave is magical and the magic is that she has the spirit of friendship."
"At the same time we celebrate diversity because we talk about slaves, we talk about black people, white people and natives from the Americas," he added.
The play was originally written by Argentinean, Jorge Tidone and adapted and translated for Black Light Theater by Hernendez, who thinks of himself as the good stepfather to the play.
One of the aspects that make Black Light Theater magical is the use of invisible actors. "We have a group of actors totally dressed in black that's impossible for the naked eye to see. So they are like puppeteers moving the props, moving the set or flying over actors," Hernandez explained. "It looks so cool. It looks so magical. It gives us the ability to do things you could not do with conventional theater."
The visible actors also wear black but are visible through minimal fluorescent paint on the costumes illuminated by black light.
Hernandez has worked with the technique at Larkin before and has experienced the delighted reaction of children.
"It always comes to my mind, this little kid who saw the show said, 'It was some kind of magic. I didn't know if I was sleeping or not.'"
The technique can be a bit of a challenge for the actors. Many of the actors involved in the play have been trained in the dramatic arts department of the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Larkin. They must face the front of the stage to best produce the affect rather than the more natural and routinely taught, face-to-face.
"They break completely the fourth wall so they are interacting with the audience," Hernandez said.
Student director Melissa Jimenez, 16, of Elgin, helps the actors adjust their training.
"You need the motion to be able to see," said Jimenez, who aspires to a career in filmmaking. "It's a lot harder to get it bigger than to tone it down."
This exaggeration of movement is the opposite of the training the students of the drama focus receive.
"Since we're the acting academy, we're used to more realistic stuff," Jimenez said. "Since its black light its kind of mondo-cartoon acting."
Jimenez, who jokingly describes her job as "yelling at people," also helps the actors to define their characters in the face of this sometimes difficult form of acting.
"I really get to help them mold that," she said.
Camilla Ramos, 16, of South Elgin, who plays Simona Washerwoman 1, can attest to the difficulty involved. "There's so much that black light involves. It's more technical than anything," she said.
"In most plays you are on stage and your technical people are in the back," Ramos explained. "But in this play they're on the stage. You have to be careful not to bump into them."
Even more challenging is the role of David Olinger, 17 of Elgin who plays El Indio Pampa, a mute slave.
"This is the first time that I've played a part with no words so it's hard to develop the character. I gotta be bigger with my gestures."
Despite that challenge, both Olinger and Ramos have enjoyed their experience as actors in this play.
"It's very unique and its different than most shows, that's for sure," Olinger said. "It makes being on stage more interesting and fun because there are so many aspects of the play, there's so much makeup and costuming involved in it."
"It's a different kind of play, it's a lot more fun visually and the story is hilarious," added Ramos. "I like that this play is going on now because of the election. With everything that's going on in the world, I think this connects to everybody so well."
If you go
What: "The Black Girl With the Lantern," a black box theatrical production
Where: Larkin High School auditorium, 1475 Larkin Avenue, Elgin
When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14 and 15
Tickets: $6 at the door